That Winter, The Wind Blows Review [May Contain Spoilers] April 24, 2013

I finally finished watching That Winter, The Wind Blows and it is about a Oh Soo who is a expert gambler. He gets caught up in a scheme to pretend to be his dead best friend also named Oh Soo because he needs a large sum of money to pay off his debt to a mob boss. He goes to his friends Oh Soo’s house and pretends to be the brother of Oh Young who is blind and is the heir to a large corporation at the passing of her father.

After I had watched about 5 episodes I looked it up and found out that is was based on other dramas and that there was an option for this drama to end sadly and I frankly did not want to watch all of it to end horribly!! I just could not handle it so I waited until the last episode aired and looked at the comments. Since it showed it was a happy episode then I finished watching the rest of the episodes.

I have to say that I did enjoy this drama even if I was not always sure what exactly is happening! I did really understand card games or gambling and so sometimes I was not sure if I was completely understanding, but that doesn’t really matter to the main story. The actors were amazing in this drama! I love Song Hye-Kyo who I first saw in Full House but I thought she played Oh Young character amazingly!! Jo In-Sung I had never watched him before but boy is he attractive!! his lankiness and always being so incredibly well dressed!! I was hooked and he is also a great actor!! Even the bad guy Moo-Chul was surprisingly attractive and enjoyed when he was on screen as well. Visually this drama is very appealing and the story is also very intriguing.

 

 

This part may contain SPOILERS!!

There was a couple of things that I did not like about the plot of the drama and one of them was when Oh Soo was stabbed and then he was better after going to the hospital and could go to stay at Oh Young’s house and not have any more problems. Sometimes I did not always understand the relationship between Oh Young and Oh Soo, sometimes they were mad and then sometimes they were fine and things were randomly resolved? I found their relationship kinda strange and was not sure what I really even though of them as a couple. I think because they act like brother and sister most of the drama it is a weird transition into a couple.

Another thing that was weird was that Oh Soo knew that So-Ra had the money that was stolen so why didn’t he just manipulate her and get it all back?? That would make more sense to me because even when he was pretending to be the brother I still did not understand what the plan was to get the money other than just asking for it. Also another thing that confused me was when Secretary Wang was going through Soo’s orphanage information did it not seem like she was the mother that gave him up?? I don’t know why I thought this and was confused when she never told him??

 I just have to say it when they were kissing it was like they were just pushing their lips together! there kisses were so awkward!!  One other thing that bothered me was that Oh Young she knew she that the Secretary Wang was preventing her from getting treatment and she didn’t try to do anything about it all these years! you think she would have fought harder to get her eyesight back and she should have told her father. One thing that I did not get was that the real Oh Soo went with his mother and she died why didn’t his father come and get him?? unless he was older when she died? Another thing after she had chemotherapy and surgery wouldn’t her hair be shorter?? Anyway I found a lot of unrealistic parts of this drama but I guess we don’t watch dramas for the realness??

What I did like about this drama was that it was an interesting plot and the you were never sure where this drama was going to go? it was always surprising me wondering how this could ever end well. I did enjoy the relationship between Oh Soo and Oh Young and how it was innocent at first and they showed each other their emotional sides but I mean sometimes they got a bit overemotional!! I think my favorite part of the drama was when she woke him up for his birthday and he is so touched for the cake and he eats it alone with that scenery. I just loved the dialogue between the two of them and the way they played with each other. Yes there are many things that i could complain about with this drama but at the same time I still would have watched it and enjoyed it the same. I just found this to be an enjoyable drama that took you through so many emotions of happiness to sadness to hope to fear to contentment. I just felt so many things and enjoyed the process of the drama.

END OF SPOILERS

I would recommend this drama and now I know that Jo in Sung and Song Hye-Kyo was the most anticipated couple when this drama was coming out because they are both awesome and together they are sublime. This is not a very predictable drama and I am sure you will also find it enjoyable!!

 

 

Biblia Koshodou no Jiken Techou- Antiquarian Bookshop Biblia’s Case Files Review April 4, 2013

 I was having trouble finding a drama that looked interesting to me and I came across this Japanese Drama and I found it to be a nice break from the usual romance drama. I would classify it as a mystery and a psychological drama. There is a bit of romance that still peaked through in the different stories but overall it was more of a human interest story where the main characters tried to figure out how and why people did what they did in a specific situation. The main plot of this drama is it starts off with Goura Daisuke who goes to a rare second hand bookstore to sell his grandmothers books and meets Shinokawa Shioriko who runs the bookstore. Shinokawa is very talented at solving mysteries and making inferences and Goura is very interested in this and they are often working together solving mysteries. All mysteries are surrounded by books and how people have their own stories connected to books.

What I liked about this drama was that it was always interesting because there was a different case study and in every episode you are introduced to a new book that does exist. A lot of them are by Japanese authors so I pretty much had no idea who they were or how the books go but that doesn’t matter to the story because it was usually explained because Goura does not know them either. The mysteries were also not too predictable and occasionally would find myself tearing up over different peoples stories. I like the characters in this drama they are quirky and interesting and funny. Jesse Lewis (Sprout, Hayato) is also in this drama and he plays Shioriko’s younger brother. I did not even realize this after the first episode! maybe because he doesn’t look as tall because Goura is very tall next to him. I have always loved reading so maybe I have a bit of basis for this drama but I think that it is really relatable to anybody even if they do not like reading because Goura cannot read and so there is a character for everyone to relate to or whether you love somebody who loves to read. I always love a good mystery and especially if it is not about murder, those types of mysteries are not interesting to me.

 

What bothered me about his drama was for one was Shioriko’s shawls! I cannot stand them or wears shawls they are so burdensome!! always having to pull up and hold onto making it hard to carry anything. They just made her look like an old lady and it just looks dumb, if you are cold put on a sweater or even a poncho they at least make it easier to work with. Another thing was sometimes the inferences that Shioriko made were a little hard to believe and it was like how you would you put those things together to get that answer. Another thing that may bother people was that the ending did not exactly tie up the loose ends and that makes me wonder if they are planning to do a second season, but for some reason I was okay with how it ended.
 

I really did enjoy this drama and was surprised it was already over with 11 episodes and if they make a 2nd season I will make sure to watch it. I would recommend this drama to anyone who loves a good mystery, books, or likes to understand what makes people tick!! I love how the drama played with the characters and different stories of books. It was a well done drama and cannot wait until I get to Jesse Lewis in a bigger role again!!

In case if you are wondering the exciting song at the end of every episode is called “searching” which is produced by Taku Takahashi. I would find myself trying to figure what this song was at the end of every episode and I did finally find it.